a) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an antikink device for an electrical cable which is connected to an electrical device, in particular, an electrical connector, or an electrical appliance, and which exhibits electrical conductors and a cable sheath that forms the outer insulation of the cable. The invention additionally relates to an electrical device, in particular, an electrical cable which is connected to an electrical connector or an electrical appliance and which exhibits electrical conductors and a cable sheath that forms the outer insulation of the cable, whereby the cable is mechanically and electrically connected with the electrical device in an installation segment which adjoins the cable end, and whereby an antikink device for the electrical cable is present. The invention additionally relates to an electrical cable which exhibits electrical conductors and a cable sheath that forms the outer insulation of the cable, and which can be mechanically and electrically connected with electrical devices in installation segments which adjoin the cable ends and which extend over a length of at least 0.5 cm, preferably at least 1 cm.
b) Description of the Related State of the Art
An antikink device for an electrical cable that protects the cable against kinking adjacent to the place at which the latter exits the housing of an electrical connector or an electrical appliance is known in the form of a so-called cable support sleeve (antikink bushing). This involves an elastic, tube-like part, usually undulating or ribbed, that is held on the housing and extends over the segment of cable that adjoins the housing. Already known as well are implementations in which the cable support sleeve is molded onto the cable sheath.
It is additionally known that an antikink device can be integrated inside an electrical connector, in that an end segment on the back of the connector housing through which the cable runs is designed elastically.
In the case of the above-mentioned conventional designs of the antikink protection, over the course of time there are nevertheless relatively frequent breaks of cable wires at the end of the elastic antikink part that surrounds the cable sheath. This is the location at which the cable is most severely strained by kinking stresses. Cable defects that originate in this way represent frequent causes for the failure of electrical appliances.
The introduction of a sealing compound into a cable end is already known in order to make a cable end liquid-tight, as is described, for example, in EP 477 022 A1 and JP 2003 174716 A. Known in addition from DE 43 03 737 A1 is a seating arrangement for a cable end piece to be able to absorb tension, transverse and torsional loads, whereby it involves in particular a cable with kink-sensitive fiber optic cables as signal lines. The seating arrangement exhibits a receptacle part that is slipped onto the end segment of the cable. Placed into the receptacle part is a sealing compound that also penetrates into the end segment of the cable. In addition, prior to that an expansion sleeve is pressed into the end of the cable thus expanding the cable sheath. When a cable that is provided with such a seating arrangement is mounted in a cable connector, then a separate, conventional antikink bushing is provided as antikink protection for the cable on the segment of the cable adjoining exit location of the cable connector from the housing, or else the antikink bushing is formed in one piece with the receptacle part.